Landscapes in cinema. Why do we invest belief and emotion in fictional landscapes? How does VFX benefit or detract from this?
Chris Mair S13171644 Film and Animation Birmingham City University 2016 
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Introduction Chapter 1: Awe in Landscape Chapter 2: Isolation forced from the environment Conclusion Bibliography
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Introduction
During this dissertation I want to find out how the use of landscape in cinema is used towards the benefit of the narrative. I will discover how visual effects has been used to blur the lines of reality and weather the use of practical effects has been beneficial to the films in question. A saying I have learnt at my time at film school “Show it, don’t tell” has been very influential towards me and I want to learn how Directors and cinematographers have implemented this rule.
Awe in Landscape Case study: Mad Max Fury road & Oblivion Mad Max: Director: George Miller
Oblivion: Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cinematographer: John Seale
Cinematographer: Claudio Miranda
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Oblivion: A VFX aerial shot of the earth after it was destroyed
John Harris: Above the Deep
It is interesting and important to compare fine art landscapes with cinematic landscapes to draw comparisons with meaning through visual communication using Oblivion (2013) By Joseph Kosinski and Mad Max Fury Road (2015) by director George Miller. In an interview with Fine artist John Harris he mentioned a mantra in which he works by. It has influenced the theme of my dissertation “Tying it back to the very ordinary is curtail in maintaining a sense of wonder about the stuff thats not ordinary.” Science fiction films recently are working to achieve this in cinema through blending the use of VFX (Visual effects) and Practical, in camera effects or Special Effects. A sense of realism and relatable qualities must be achieved even if the subject is purposed to be jarring/unreal. This is the key to believing in the world. Star Wars The force awakens (2015) and Mad Max Fury Road (2015) are two recent additions to be pushing a renaissance within the VFX world along with Oblivion (2013). Everyone involved with the film making process are realising that going back to basics in conjunction with older practices leads to better film making. Model making, practical in camera effects and real sets that the actors can actually interact with are making digital CGI (computer generated imagery) less relied upon and are instead are being used in hybrid. However when making open landscapes you cannot escape the CGI elements such as Matte painting and compositional works. “Practical effects. You’ve been here but you don't know this story. To see the way the technology has evolved and yet keeping one foot in the pre-digital world” Mark Hamill said this as part of a Star Wars: The force awakens Comic Con trailer in 2015 proving that not only film companies are understanding but that CHRIS MAIR
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the fans and even the actors know what made original special effect films so great in the first place. I am looking at how Landscapes and environments specifically are used in cinema to create a sense of scale and awe and how the artists make it believable. The world and the characters should make it an equally immersive experience to captivate the audiences attention and passion.
“I became aware of how much the traces of the past were visible on the surface of the earth” John Harris made a series of atmospheric work based on photographs from the NASA archives in the 1980’s mostly based off aerial photography. The image in Fig. 2. is a piece called “Above the Deep (1985)” that even though this image has no clear distinction it implies the image is of water and that we are seeing it from high altitude. The process of making this has a element of randomness to it. The techniques used contained broken up chalks and them submerging them on an oil painted canvas. Harris used these dream like blends of colours and textures to make these 3D structures on the page, staying true to his original feelings at that point in time of making the piece. This is very true of the quote used above “traces of the past” We as a species have created these scar like structures on the surface and that soon our planet will not be able to sustain us any longer. On the left of the canvas in Fig.2. the beige streaks are representative of the land that fades into the water, turning into rich royal blues giving this great sense of depth from above. Just before the image in Fig. 1. A monologue is playing over images of New York and about how aliens had invaded. Humans then had to use nuclear weapons to defend, ultimately resetting earth and leaving all these scars on earth which is seen in Fig. 1. This is perfect comparison of the work done by Harris, the only difference being the colour which has been faded to be more representative of real life and the story in hand that life on earth has been destroyed. The details held in the land of the first image show remnants of buildings, or foundations to show that this was at one point a liveable planet. We automatically understand and can believe in the threat of war and loosing our homes. However the work by Harris has much more vibrant healthy tenancies to it and the connotation that it might not even be earth but an alien vista amount the stars, but it still follows his rule. The film talks about this fictional earth as if it was a environmental protest from the very beginning. This is before you learn about the characters being marooned on earth and are made to work for a colony on a moon of Saturn. Despite the science fiction story of the aliens this film is a message about environmental issues “You’re not just creating spectacle, you want something for people to think about” Joe Kosinski 2013
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Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Oblivion: Behind the scenes SFX inside the home
Mad Mx Fury road: Before and after VFX
Directors Joe Kosinski and George Miller are both strong advocates of using special effects instead of using a lot of CGI due to the simple factor of realism “The trick with this film was making the digital elements feel photographed because so much of the film is in camera� The two images in question (Fig. 6. and Fig. 9) have been done in a similar method. They both have been done using a compositional program like Nuke or After Effects and both have had partial simulations for the dust clouds in Fig 9 and vapour clouds in Fig 6. In Fig.3. we see a behind the scenes shot of the main set in Oblivion (2013) which is the home to the characters Jack and Victoria. Instead of just making a simple set on a blue screen sound stage the Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda chose to create a full liveable environment with panoramic lighting situations. This would create an environment in which objects inside the home would react to light the same way it would in the real life. For this they had shot hours of sky footage in Hawaii then front projected it onto screens all around the set which sold the idea that this glass box was suspended miles above the ground. This was crucial for the audience to believe in the story, to re-enforce that the earth is contaminated. On the contrary in Mad Max it would have been impossible to create a sandstorm of this size. Fig.4. shows a before and after image of the VFX process that ultimately changed the landscape entirely. There is very little left of the original image. This sequence still works, not as much as the Sky tower from Oblivion but the use of practical vehicles and people during the storm was enough to ground the action in reality and have a seamless transition.
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Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
John Martin: Macbeth
Oblivion: Jack watching the landscape whilst being out after curfew
During oblivion the way that the science fiction genre is kept grounded and believable is done by showing remnants from human existence. Landmarks and earthly landscapes are shown as Jack is traversing the landscape. But in Fig. 6. the landscape simply just shows Jack sat on a cliff looking into the horizon at these huge structures that are defiantly not human as we know it today. Therefore this shot is used as a shock factor, that human existence is really gone and the environments of earth has changed. This isn't a typical dull dystopian film. Fig. 5. painted by John Martin is used in the same way to alienate the audience, to scare us with a sense of awe and sheer power that could have been produced by God. Here we are presented with a lot more figures than the image from oblivion. In fact a whole army. They are moving to the front of the painting towards the the two men in the centre waving them up showing that they could be running from the storm over head and that God is about to punish them for sin full acts. This is important to note when comparing back to Fig. 6. This image theoretically could be the aftermath. God has already destroyed the earth and this is the redemption phase. The characters we are then presented with to carry humanity through are Jack and his lost wife Julia that are representative of a culminations of biblical stories. Noah and the arc and even Adam and Eve. Jack’s character is too fond of his lost memories of earth to let go. One attachment he has is a small flower he nurtured in an old bean can (Fig. 6a) “even an inhospitable wasteland may be Fig. 6a retained and lives on in the collective imagination of societies there has left it for more habitable regions” Oblivion: Jacks flower David Melbye, ‘Landsape Allegory in Cinema’ (2010) Instead of a society this view is held by jack. Although there is a lot of spoken exposition in this film, the art in landscapes compared with the smaller details, like the flower is more than enough to understand the world. I have chosen these two images from Mad Max (2015) (Fig. 9) and Oblivion (2013) (Fig. 6) because they share distinct qualities. For example Biblical tendencies of John martins work is very influential to most of science fiction. Due to the huge scale or the worlds in his images do not need to be explained by facts or man, but instead are left to the mysticism of God and
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religion. However during science fiction films directors and writers use explanation based in reality so that the audience can draw there own meaning and facts. In this case we are told that the earths water is being farmed and turned into energy which explains what the giant obelisks are in the background, unlike science fantasy films like the Star Wars franchise or even the Mad Max franchise where the writers expect the viewers just to believe due to one fact in the movie. For Star wars it’s in a galaxy far away. However in Mad Max: Fury road (2015) it due to a nuclear war. In Fig. 6. the cinematographer Claudio Miranda Has kept this huge scale of landscape along with the Rückenfigur pose which romantic paintings followed but there has been added an explanation to the scene. By having these huge obelisk structures in the background, spitting out huge plumes of clouds gives an excuse and basically tells the viewers why this landscapes looks the way it does. Where as in Biblical imagery in Fig. 5. Macbeth by John martin adds and opposite story to Fig.6. In which it is just accepted that the clouds are forming in these types of ways and that god is not seen due to him being this mythical force controlling the earth. But as most art is subjective these questions are still being asked today which is the difference between Fine art and visual communication The Rückenfigur or Figure from behind is now so iconic in cinema that most science fiction posters have a rendition of the pose. Due to its heroic sensibility. The wanderer above the sea of fog is the most iconic use of the Rückenfigure. Painted by Casper David Friedrich in 1818 it is the best masterclass on composition and focal points. Every line used in this piece of work points towards the figure in the middle of the canvas, which is located in the dead centre. He faces away from the audience to invoke a sense of wonder hence “Wanderer above…” therefore inviting the viewer to partake in the landscape, becoming the figure himself. A short description made about this painting by journalists on artble.com could have been used for Fig. 5. “The figure stands in contemplation and self reflection, mesmerised by the haze of the sea fog as if it were a religious and spiritual experience. He wonders in that moment about the unforeseen future.”
Fig. 7. C.D. Friedrich: Wanderer
The best device these forms of paintings use is transporting the viewer into the subjects position, much like some modern art now. By not showing the face of the subject you start to wonder what it is like, what they are thinking and why they are faced away. Then by not even showing the figure (Modern art) you then become the portrait looking onto the canvas as if it were a vast open landscape, as you try to pick apart meaning and explanation. This then is tied back to the quote from John Harris and that humans, by nature have to find meaning and a point in everything.
above the sea of fog
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Mad Max is a culmination of two types of shots. Close ups of the characters inside vehicles to show the claustrophobic environments (Fig 8). and wide open landscapes. The director wants all the action to be localised and intently fast paced to reflect the story of the one long journey, back and forth. This is also backed up by the style of framing and editing. Short cuts are used during action scenes so are are all be centred. This is so that your eye does not need to travel to far on the screen, tiering you out Fig. 8. to fast. after these senses of non-stop action the Mad Max: Interior shot director uses huge wide shots of the desolate world that is earth after a nuclear war.
Fig. 9. Mad Max Fury Road: The convoy driving into the eye of an apocalyptic sand storm
In this scene the director, Miller and cinematographer, John Seale slows the rhythm down. Seconds before this frame shown in Fig. 9 the camera is located in the cabins of the car chase (Fig.. 8). You can see the dust storm start to creep into the background. Due to every shot being fast pace close ups and whip pans across the action they need a device to break up the action. in this instance to make the previous shots pay off a long spectacular revealing shot of the storm is implemented. The dust storm, seen to be approaching on the convoy as if to consume. Leaving this group of humans at the hands of nature ultimately making them extremely vulnerable. The longer shots of Mad Max (2015) are best represented by this image (Fig. 9). They all follow a similar goal. spectacular moments that are designed to stop the audience and allow time to reflect and take in the next part of the action which is about to even more intense.
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Fig. 10. Mad Max: Immortan Joe on his throne
The vastness and magnitude of a visual wall is repeated throughout the narrative due to the controlling idea being about power and placement within the world. The sand storm another seemingly solid, immovable and intimidating object that is impeding on the approaching convoy makes the characters appear so small and insignificant. During the start of the film we are introduced to the main antagonist, Immortan Joe. He is the human representation of power and oppression. Seen here in Fig. 10 he is literally above a sea of people all under his will weather he will allow them water.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
JMW Turner : Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps
John Martin: The Great Day of His Wrath,
When looking at works of art produced by Turner and Martin they share tendencies to use sweeping arches that follow the Golden ratio grid system to show the greatest power of nature. In 1845 a German psychologist called Adolf Zeising was quoted to writing this about the discovery of the Golden Ratio in all of nature and biological bone The Golden Ratio structures “the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art” However Turner’s painting was made earlier than the discovery of the golden ratio showing that Turner saw art in a mathematical sense.
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Fig. 14.
Fig. 15.
JMW Turner: A single figure
Oblivion. Jack finds another person after being lied to by his so called wife
Fig. 16. Mad Max: Fury road. Furiosa finds out her efforts was in vain JMW Turner shows people in their environment. typically in large-scale landscapes as seen in Fig 11, which was initially what I started out to write about. He was never known as a portrait artist. However when in indoors and at big events he would collect sketches of figures to understand their clothes, characteristics and how they all reacted to light. These practices where then translated into the Romantic landscapes he is so famous for. In this first image seen in Fig 14 he draws figures loosely and faded on the page. The figure blurs into the page as if lost mentally or literally. Turners art started to look more experimental by todays standards during the last years of his life often having clear details blur and shift into the light. Represented here in his sketch in Fig 14 it is comparable to the images I have chosen from Oblivion (2013) in Fig 15 and of Mad Max (2015) in Fig 16. In all images this blur between landscape and figure is statement about the subjects mental state. In Turners sketch it could be the artist or the figure that is in question, representing his negativity towards certain people as his personality was seen to be abrasive at best. In the films this is clearly a commentary on where the character is mentally along the story.
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You as the viewer can see an environment in Turner’s sketch because logic dictates there is one due to the figure firmly planted upright. Much like Turners figure sketch, Oblivion assimilates this feeling when Jack is lost and in an identity crisis. In this scene Jack located on the ground, his environment that he was so accustomed to, is starting to doubt his mission on earth and for the landscape around him starts to blur together and become negative space. Much like how Turner used it to portray the same feeling. Tuner used these drawings to concentrate solely on the figure in the room. Most if not all films tend to focus around people or anthropomorphic characters so it is not a crazy notion that this painting reflects the motions of these films and easily captures audiences attention through the breakdown and loss of the landscape. Oblivion and Mad Max are both similar in the struggle and curiosity of the characters. During Mad Max (2015), Furiosa sets out to find a better place to live and to return home to her people and in Oblivion, Jack is trying to remember his former self and former home before his mind was wiped. Its safe to say that neither of the characters really achieves this. In Fig. 3. the most centric character of Mad Max (2015) has just realised that the promised land she has fought so hard to find was all legends and it was destroyed and turned into marsh land years before. Such a powerful scene is created in silence as she walks away from the group and falls to her knees onto the desert plane as sand is rushed about her figure she starts to scream. Her mental state represented amazingly by the desert rushing past her, surrounding her as she starts to fade to a small dot in the landscape. However there is a slight hope in this image when compared to the frame from Oblivion and Turners drawing. The sky cutting the frame with clear lines from the sand which foreshadows to the end of the film which results in freedom. These shots are a visual representation of the breakdown these characters are going through at different point in their joinery and as we have invested our emotion thus far into these amazing awe impairing landscapes we are invited to share in the despair and confusion Jack and Furiosa are dealt with. Studying these films in a manor I have not done before, comparing the thematic points of the films with each other in conjunction with fine art that applies emotionally in the same vain as each other. Has been extremely beneficial. I have made links between these film I may not have without the comparison of fine art. The directors I have looked at George Miller and Joseph Kosinski achieved realism through visual language in referencing Fine art painters such as, JMW Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, John Martin and John Harris to convey a message about the characters and world
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through the use of landscapes evoking an empathetic response from the audience. The blend of visual effects and practical has been used seamlessly which is a great change from modern cinema. Phil Tippet said this in a Vice documentary about his life work as a stop motion animator for VFX in films like Star wars (1977) and Jurassic Park (1993) which was the common concern from model makers and set designer at this point in cinema “Jurassic part had the shot that killed stop motion. I had to stay in bed for two weeks� It just goes to show how these lost arts are really what can make the special on the screen. What Miller and Kosinski have done with their films have contributed to the reinvention of how VFX movies are made and have pushed the industry to realise that maybe taking the physical route of making film is noticeably better by the end because if the actors are engaged then the audience will see it in fruition. I have learnt how landscapes can be used as such a powerful expression of the character. It can transport and captivate an audience. It can slow the pacing and breakup the rhythm of the film and most importantly the awesome spectacle can mean so much more than just sheer effects of screen used to distract or convolute. Through wiring this I have learnt how to structure my shots and how to invoke a message through simple means.
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Isolation from an environment Case study: Ex Machina & The Hateful Eight Ex machina: Director: Alex Garland Cinematographer: Rob Hardy
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
When the robot character AVA gets to caleb and makes himself start to doubt himself as human
shots like this tend to be used when the ava has tricked either caleb o the audience of her humanity when the environment shows her to be two faced.
In this chapter I will explore how the use of the environment can make us empathetic towards the characters and why landscapes/ setting can be its own character. Most film makers chooses from a range visual language to convey the story subconsciously. This could be done through the use of Colour, tone or shape. For example circles are seen as non threatening, when on screen they would lower the intensity. Triangles therefore can be used alternatively due to its sharp edges, heightening the intensity. Rob Hardy has made excellent use of lines or cuts in Ex Machina. It stays consistently clear use throughout. Used as a running commentary on the characters placement mentally within the story. From this the environment becomes a narrator in it’s own rights. Much like the harsh environments and lush vistas from Mad max and oblivion, but there is a difference. The setting of Ex-Machina was man made, a form of self entrapment from the character Nathan. He in the film is portrayed as the evil genius type. “There is a little bit of a suicidal aspect to what he is doing, and I think he is okay with that” Oscar Isaac 2015 This use of visual language has been used to show the abstracts of what is real and what is seen to be fake. In other words being human and sentient versus being a robot/ AI and faking sentience. The setting helps put the characters into perspective to the audience subconsciously.
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In Fig.1. one point perspective is creating a box around Caleb alluding to how he and other characters are being imprisoned in the facility. In most cases like this the frame would usually be cut in two. Currently Caleb is located on the right walking out of the hallway. His reflected self is on the left of the glass, shroud in the shadow of the room. As his reflection walks into negative space the tension and distrust between the three characters during the script starts to grow. This is represented amazingly in the mirrored glass. Weather the characters are manipulating or being manipulated.
Fig. 3. Caleb doubts him self being a real human he mutilates him self and checks for metal parts
The reflection in the darkness of Fig. 1. talks about the doubt of being human. Caleb is led to believe, he himself might be artificially made. Mirrors are often compared to identity in art and it's no different during this film. This is made clear in Fig. 3 after Caleb cuts his arm and searches his body for parts that might be robotic due to overwhelming sense of doubt given to him from Nathan and Ava alluding to the fact he might not be human. Moments when the characters are alone are the only noticeable time the lines of the glass are not separating them into different segments. When compared to Fig. 2. Ava, already aware of what she is looks at herself in the glass with a blank expression. Showing she is confident and knows of her place in the narrative and how she can manipulate the other characters. She continues to act dumb to Nathan and Caleb. This is a recurring theme and could be foreshadowing to when Ava successfully tricks her way out of the facility at the end.
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All shots have been designed specifically to achieve this goal. But some that illustrate this the most is during the conversations between Caleb and Ava. They are always posed together in a glass jail room, where Ava, the robot is kept.
Fig. 4. Ex Machina: One of the character early conversations
The “Meeting room” is the main area of the film in which Caleb is tasked with preforming a Turing test “developed by Alan Turing in 1950, of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.” Weather Ava can prove sentience and if she is good enough for the outside world is seemingly down to Caleb. The character on screen would generally start out with equal space, however within the duration of the conversation, Caleb's segment would gradually be getting pushed to the side as shown in Fig. 4 giving more of the situational power to Ava. This is because Caleb has revealed more personal memories and facts about himself. Ava would be gaining more of the frame since she is learning new ways of how to manipulate and seduce him, which is exactly part her programming: To escape and fake sentience through nay means. The best ways the cinematographer, Rob Hardy, uses these devices is during these sessions or chapters the two characters Ava and Caleb have together. Caleb is supposed to be the one that is interviewing the AI and finding out weather she could be human and if she can simulate singularity (being conscious about her existence) however he is often put into a box, in more ways than one.
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Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Ex Machina: Before the power cut
Ex Machina: during the power cut
Ava can manipulate the facility to have power cuts at intervals. She uses this time which she uses this time to pretend to talk to Caleb in private seemingly without Nathan watching from his room which is seen on camera. However this is another way in which she manipulates Caleb, to gain his trust through baited sympathy she tells caleb Nathan is mistreating her and other prototypes and that he is evil. In these two images Fig 5 and 6 show the characters in the environment before and after the power cut. In Fig. 5 the power is still on and the characters are just talking normally about each other. After Ava has put on skin and clothes to lure the audience and Caleb into seeing her as a real person. The important detail in the visual language is in the reflections, which in this film so far have been used to show that someone is manipulative or two faced. In Fig 5 It is shown that Caleb has an extra reflection behind him so you would assume he is in control of the scene. There is more of him. In Fig. 4. the lights are switched off and the room turns to red. The camera is pushed in to a medium close up and the reflections swap so that Ava is duplicated, that she is controlling the scene and yet again that she has other motives that would be considered “Two faced” as her reflection unlike Calebs is looking back at her. She is only doing this for her self. When Nathan is presented in Fig. 7 talking about the AI's brain he Is presented in White attire to either side two glowing pillars are positioned in a throne like fashion. Earlier in the film Caleb has mentioned that if Nathan has succeeded in creating a robot with sentience he is like God him self. Nathan knows what he has done and realises that it may all lead to his demise however he keeps on showing him self in two lights showing that he is not stable and is in fact mad with power and volition. He often cracks showing his personality to Caleb as alienating and rough.
Fig. 7. Ex Machina: Nathan talking about the AI’s brain
Fig. 8.
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Ex Machina: Nathan presented in his room comparing the randomness of the art to Ava’s Brain !16
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Ex Machina: Nathan presented in his room swept to the side of all the post-it notes on the wall. representative of his brain
Ex Machina: Ava presenting Caleb with an image she has produced. Representative of her brain
These two images Fig 9 and 10 are best understood when compared to each other. Early on in the film we have seen Nathan's room of notes and shortly after Ava has presented to Caleb small inclinations of her consciousness, that are to fake real emotion about him. She draws this picture, representative of the workings of her mind. We are shown later in Fig 7 making this distinction between her mind and what she draws. Ava’s Fig. 10a. drawing is precise however it has at this point a Ex Machina: Ava’s brain convoluted purpose. Her brain showed in Fig 10a has been designed in a way that illustrates her complex being. It consists of a vast network of faked neutrons each lighting up at different moments to show the “consciousness” of what Nathan has created. Ava’s drawing then self is referential as she shows Caleb however he at this point in the narrative does not understand what the subject of her art is, and asks if she can draw what she see’s instead. When Nathan is shown in his room, he is surrounded by his constant thoughts and notes that he has bombarded the wall with. He appears slow and tied down to his inventions. Everything in his mind is now on the wall, he has mapped it out much like Ava. These prison like boxes on the walls he has surrounded himself with is referential to the concrete underground facility they are all trapped in. “There is a little bit of a suicidal aspect to what he is doing, and I think he is okay with that” Oscar Isaac talks about his character as self destructive and maniacal. They all display traits of perception there is evident through over the nation in a constant battle of man and machine ultimately putting Caleb in the middle and subject in him to actions she might not have been accustomed to given the circumstances. The facility and the landscape is a visual vessel that tells and alludes to the story from the very beginning. The controlling idea of being a robot, precise and calculating has been used carefully to layout the actors in away the glass of the environment can speak without the characters needing to. I have learnt so much from the way the cinematographer has placed his elements in a represented way so that his environment is a running commentary to the plot.
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Conclusion Overall I have learnt how landscapes talk about there subjects. How environments can be self referential and are key when used together. The closed off spaces in Mad Max (2015) are comparable with the environments of Ex- machina in the sense of being trapped. Which is then a great contrast to Oblivion in which Jack is confined by his job and oppressors yet he is able to roam basically free in this new form of Earth. This has been an invaluable experience as I have learnt how to structure landscapes in way that can explain the world and the characters with one single image. I have found meaning in visual languages used in Ex-machina that can be extrapolated and used with in my own works in different ways. I have learnt how to analysis fine art and the messages they hold within the use of grid systems and placement of figures within the canvas. When comparing these works of art to the films I had chosen to speak about there has been clear links between everyone. Films are designed often to have the audience sympathise with the characters. Some of the time this is purely done through the script however what I have found during this essay is that images, through tone, setting and context are just as good if not better at investment within ht audience. As this is what films are meant for. Showing illusions of places we cannot go. Visual effects has in the last 10 years become dominate and slowed down the use of practical methods. However what I have come to realise is that when used correctly, for example during these three films, the audience can forget about what is real and simply allow themselves to be immersed.
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References John Harris (2014). Beyond The Horizon - The Art of John Harris. London: Magenta Films. 14:15. https://goo.gl/tXXGua Artble 2016 http://goo.gl/EJ6uLd Mark Hamill 2015 https://goo.gl/zWixot Joe Kosinski (2013). Creating the World of "Oblivion". The Creators Project. 0:30. https://goo.gl/uBw6b9 David Melbye (2010). Landscape allegory in cinema. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 3.
https://goo.gl/NcwzpE
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